March Madness #1 Seed Predictions

March Madness is a single-elimination NCAA Men's Division 1 Basketball Tournament played every spring. There are some 68 college teams competing in Division 1. The teams with the most titles include: UCLA (11), Kentucky (8), North Carolina (6), Duke (5), Indiana (5), UConn ((4), and Kansas (3).  Believe it or not, the teams with the longest time between NCAA tournament appearances – droughts – include Harvard University for 66 years between 1946 and 2012, Dartmouth from 1959 to the present day (59 years +), and Yale from 1962 through 2016 (54 years). Clearly these guys are definitely NOT going to be on my March Madness #1 Seed Predictions for 2020.

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* Baylor (20-1 & 9-0)  #1
* Louisville (20-3 & 11-1)
* Seton Hall (17-5 & 9-1)
* Auburn (21-2 & 8-2)

East

* San Diego State (23-0 & 12-0)  #4
* Duke (19-3 & 9-2)
* Maryland (19-4 & 9-3)
* Butler (18-5 & 6-4)

Midwest

* Kansas (20-3 & 9-1)  #2
* Dayton (20-2 & 9-0)
* Florida State (20-3 & 10-2)
* Michigan State (16-8 & 8-5)

West

*Gonzaga (34-1 & 10-0) #3

* West Virginia (18 - 4 & 6 - 3)
* Villanova (17-5 & 7-3)
* Oregon (18-5 & 7-3)

The top 4 seeds heading into the 2020 March Madness Fiesta include these fine selections on my prediction list:

1. Baylor – Baylor's 19 consecutive wins, with 5 of them against top-tier opponents makes them the team to beat
2. Kansas – watch Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike blaze a trail on the court
3. Gonzaga – The Bulldogs are averaging 88.5 pts per game, with 6 of their stars scoring double pts.
4.  San Diego State - The Aztecs have not faced top-tier opposition yet, but they are the top-ranked Mountain West Team. With a 26-game win streak overall, a home record of 13-0, and an away record of 10-0

How Does March Madness Seeding Work?

* Selection Sunday begins on March 15
* The First Four are Selected on March 17/18
* The First and Second Rounds of Play take place from March 19 through March 22
* The Midwest Regional plays out on March 26/28
* The West Regional plays on March 26/28
* The South Regional plays on March 27/29
* The East Regional plays on March 27/29
* The Final Four plays on April 4/6

The Teams Which Won the March Madness in the Last Five Years Include the Following:

* 2015 – Duke (35-4) with a score of 68-63 against Wisconsin
* 2016 – Villanova (35-5) with a score of 77-74 against North Carolina
* 2017 – North Carolina (33-7) with a score of 71-65 against Gonzaga
* 2018 – Villanova (36-4) with a score of 79-62 against Michigan
* 2019 – Virginia (35-3) with a score of 85-77 (overtime) against Texas Tech

How Many NCAA College Basketball Conferences are there in Division 1?

There are 68 college teams competing in Division 1, in the following conferences:

* America East
* American
* Atlantic 10
* ACC
* Atlantic Sun
* Big 12
* Big East
* Big Sky
* Big South
* Big Ten
* Big West
* Colonial
* Conference USA
* Horizon
* Ivy
* MAAC
* Mid-American
* MEAC
* Missouri Valley
* Mountain West
* North-East
* Ohio Valley
* Pac-12
* Patriot league
* SEC
* Southern
* Southland
* SWAC
* Summit league
* Sun Belt
* West Coast
* WAC

Once it comes time to complete your March Madness brackets, don't worry too much about any upset picks that you've made for your first round. As the tournament progresses, you'll rack up a lot more points per game. It's a much better idea to make your selections with the Final Four, and then work retroactively. It's interesting to point out that the top-ranked seeds are more likely than others (by a long margin) to end up in the Final Four, and have a much greater probability of becoming champions of the game, and national champions. The data provided by the NCAA is ironclad. In fact, seeds ranked from 12-16 have not ended in a final 4, championship game, or become national champions. The #1 seeds are therefore the top-ranked seeds because they are so darn good at the game. Between 1985 and 2020, 35 champions have been crowned and 22/35 (63%) have been #1 seeds. Therefore, there is a big reason to pick #1 seeds for your March Madness selections.

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Photo accreditation to David J. Phillip and AP